by Bree Wolf
Chapter Forty-Two – Coming Home
London
A fortnight later
While Finn looked rather curiously at his surroundings, Claudia doubted that Ian would ever come to like anything English. Much less her. There seemed to be a certain animosity between them that she could not explain. However, as time passed, she came to doubt that it had anything to do with her. Who knew what demons lived in Ian’s past?
“’Tis a grand city,” Finn remarked as he stood with Garrett and Ian over by the pianoforte in her brother’s drawing room. “I’ve never seen so many people in one place.”
Ian grumbled something, no doubt disagreeable under his breath.
After retrieving her from the small dinghy in the middle of the open sea, it had been agreed that Finn and Ian would accompany them to London for a short visit before they would all return to the Highlands. Garrett had procured a carriage for his little family while Finn and Ian had travelled on horseback.
The way back had taken longer. However, this time they had not been in a hurry, enjoying the peaceful time they had together. Only Ian had seemed displeased with their travel arrangements. Finn, on the other hand, had been delighted. “I wish Emma was here. She’d love to see all this.”
Claudia had assured him that he was more than welcome to invite his wife along the next time they travelled to London. For although she longed to see her new home in the Highlands, Claudia knew that she could never stay away from her family for too long.
Upon their arrival back in London, her mother had fallen into her arms, sobbing heartbreakingly. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again. Why did you not tell us? Of course, we would have helped you. Don’t you know how much you mean to us?”
Indeed, there had been a time when Claudia had not been certain, when she had felt that she did not belong. But all that was different now.
Her family had welcomed her back with open arms, overjoyed to meet Aiden as well as Garrett. Of course, they had looked rather shocked upon first hearing that Claudia was married and had been for about a year now. However, when they all sat down in the drawing room and Claudia and Garrett had told their story, laughter had soon echoed through the room, here and there interspersed by a wistful smile or a tearful eye. In the end, all had been overjoyed to hear that Claudia had finally found a man who had conquered heart.
Claudia could not remember ever having been hugged quite this much. It seemed every time she turned around, a member of her family stood there, drawing her into their arms. Her mother and Evelyn were beside themselves with joy, and for the first time, Claudia could meet her sister-in-law’s gaze without flinching. “You’ll be a wonderful mother,” she told her after one of those seemingly endless hugs, “and I can’t wait to see my brother become a father.”
Evelyn chuckled as she rocked little Aiden in her arms. “Oh, he’ll do fine. He’ll find his own way of showing his love.”
“I know.” Gazing across the room, Claudia met her brother’s eye.
“I think he wants to talk to you,” Evelyn whispered, her blue gaze shifting to her husband. “He missed you terribly and barely slept a wink the whole time you were gone. He would have followed you farther than the Prancing Pony, had he known where you’d gone.”
Claudia sighed, a small smile on her face. “I’m surprised he didn’t hire any Bow Street runners.”
“Oh, he did,” Evelyn chuckled, tickling Aiden under the chin. “But it would seem you hid your tracks well.”
After hugging her sister-in-law for the thousandth time, Claudia made her way across the room to where Richard stood by the fireplace. “I heard you missed me,” she addressed him without preamble, seeing the touch of embarrassment that came to his face at having his feelings revealed so openly.
Clearing his throat, her brother met her gaze, a hint of humour in his own. “The house was awfully quiet. Unusually so.”
A little taken aback, Claudia smiled at him. “Are you trying to make a joke, dear brother?”
Shrugging, he grinned at her. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
“Evelyn is wonderful,” Claudia whispered, knowing that the changes in her brother were all her sister-in-law’s doing. Her kind and loving touch had managed to bridge the gap between Richard and his family, reuniting them all in a way Claudia would have never believed possible.
Her brother nodded, his silver-grey eyes travelling across the room to his wife. “That she is,” he whispered, a loving smile on his face.
“It is wonderful to see you so happy,” Claudia told him, wondering about the man she had known all her life but never quite understood.
His grey eyes shifted back to her. “And are you happy?”
The smile that came to her face was so instantaneous that Claudia did not even have a moment to think about her answer. Not that she needed to. “Very happy,” she replied, feeling her own gaze travel to the man across the room who was the source of that happiness.
As though he could feel her gaze on him, Garrett looked up in that moment and their eyes met. It was as though a spark ignited, and Claudia felt it all the way to her toes. A delicious shiver ran down her back, and for a moment, she wished they were the only two people in the room.
Garrett seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“You do smile a lot,” her brother cut into her thoughts.
Clearing her throat, Claudia refocused her attention, doing her best to ignore her husband’s lingering gaze. “I smile a lot?”
Richard nodded. “I know I’m not the most reliable source when it comes to interpreting another’s facial expressions, but…” He shrugged. “I think you smile because you’re happy.”
Touched by his open words, Claudia nodded. “I do,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt this way. Now, I finally know what you feel when you look at Evelyn.”
Richard nodded, and Claudia could see that only sheer willpower kept his gaze from seeking out his wife once more. “And you are certain that accompanying your husband to Scotland is what you want?”
Claudia sighed, delighted to see her brother’s concern for her. Not merely for her safety or her reputation. But for her happiness. “I am,” she said, beaming at him. “As you well know I’ve never been able to deny myself a grand adventure.”
Richard chuckled, “How could I forget?”
“Well, you won’t have any chance of forgetting me,” Claudia told him, trying her best to ignore the soft tears that stung the back of her eyes, “for I will visit you and Mother and Evelyn as often as I possibly can. We may live apart, but we’ll always be a family.”
Holding her gaze, Richard nodded. Then he did something he had never done before. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Always,” he whispered into her ear, and Claudia could hear the deep emotions that clung to this one word.
***
The last stretch of their journey to Seann Dachaigh Tower, Garrett rode beside the carriage that carried his wife and son. He could feel his heart settle into a different rhythm now that he was back home in the Highlands. His lungs filled with fresh air, scented with pine, hazel and the distant aroma of the sea. The strong breeze tore at his hair, and his eyes filled with the vastness of Scotland’s rolling hills.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Claudia peer out the window, her blue eyes wide as she gazed at the ancient fortress at the end of their path. It stood tall against a deep blue sky, its dark grey stones strong and unyielding. Situated on a small rise, Seann Dachaigh Tower−the old home−had seen the tides of time, its walls unbreached, protecting those inside. A thick wall ran around the inner fortress with only a large front gate to allow entrance. The main building stretched wide on two sides, more than one tower reaching higher into the sky, its windows like beacons in the dark.
More than once, Garrett had returned home after dusk, his steps guided by the glowing lights of those within beckoning him onward.
Beckoning him home.
“It’s magnificent,” Garrett heard his wife
exclaim as she turned to Finn riding on her side of the carriage. Questions flew from her lips, and Finn did his best to answer them while Ian skulked in the saddle as he brought up the rear of their little group.
As they approached the gate, Garrett lifted his head, inhaling a deep breath. “Home,” he whispered as a welcoming warmth washed over him.
Then he blinked.
Up on the wall-walk behind the parapet stood a tall figure in a billowing lavender gown, a dark cloak covering her shoulders but leaving free her wild golden hair. The wind tore at its strands, tossing them around her face, as though it wished to carry her off. Her blue eyes shone in such a pale light that they seemed otherworldly as though they truly could see things that were hidden from others. She seemed like a siren, a selkie, a spirit, and yet, the look in her eyes spoke of a very human heart.
Full of loss and longing.
Moira.
Their eyes met, and for a short moment, Garrett held his breath, his skin prickling with the knowledge of how this woman had guided him down his path and led him to his wife. If she had not insisted Cormag send him to Gretna Green, Garrett would never have met Claudia and Aiden would never have been born. And then she had interfered on his behalf yet again when it seemed that his family was all but lost to him, sending aid in the form of Duncan MacKinnear and his ship.
How had she known? Garrett could not help but wonder. Had she truly seen what would happen? Had her dreams told her of the future?
No matter where he had gone on his travels, Garrett had always heard whispers echo through the Highlands of people who knew more than they ought to. Whispers of those who spoke with a wisdom beyond their years. Whispers of those who could see into another’s heart and read it like a book.
Still, these were only whispers full of awe, but also of distrust for people tended to fear what they could not understand. In the end, Garrett believed that it was these whispers that kept people like Moira from stepping forward and revealing their abilities to those around them…for they would undoubtedly be met with wariness and suspicion.
Garrett knew that every time Moira had interfered, she had put herself at risk, especially as an outsider. A woman banished from her own clan and forced to live among strangers.
Here, she was alone.
Unprotected without a family to stand with her, to shield her, to brave the storm with her.
Holding her gaze, Garrett inclined his head to Moira, gratitude warming his heart, and he vowed that if she ever needed him, he would stand with her and brave the storm. It was the least he could do for what she had done for him.
A small smile appeared on her lips, and for a moment, Garrett wondered if she had somehow heard his thoughts, if she had felt his vow and now knew him to be an ally. Sighing, he realised he would never know.
As he rode through the gate, Garrett wondered about what the future had in store for Moira and if she already knew. He wondered why Cormag had agreed for her to stay despite his clan’s objections. And he wondered if Cormag had a more personal interest in the woman with the pale blue eyes than he was willing to admit.
Perhaps time would tell.
Epilogue
Later that day
Bundled up, Aiden rested in the crook of his father’s arm as Garrett walked across the courtyard toward the outer gate. “’Tis breath-taking,” he whispered to his son, a fresh summer’s breeze whirling around his words. “Ye’ll see.”
Long ago, when Garrett had been only a boy and felt the need to be on his own, away from the crowded companionship of Seann Dachaigh Tower, he had found his way out of the castle walls and simply kept on walking. Eventually, he had come upon a small hill, which had all but seemed to be the centre of the world to little Garrett. Although the small rise was indeed far from majestic, rising nowhere near high enough to be called anything but a mere hill, it was uniquely situated, granting Garrett a view of the land around him.
His eyes had swept over Seann Dachaigh Tower a short distance away and over a large loch not far from where he stood, rolling hills and dense woods filling out the picture of peaceful tranquillity. Garrett had loved that spot from the very moment he had discovered it, and over the years, his feet had brought him back time and time again.
It was a place to be alone with his thoughts.
A place he wanted to share with his son.
Smiling, Garrett looked down at his little boy, picturing him running across the meadows and through the woods as he himself had as a lad. Garrett remembered his own childhood with a happy heart, and he could only hope that Aiden would feel at home here.
Straightening, Garrett glanced over his shoulder, up at the window where he knew his wife was rearranging his chamber−their chamber! With a smile on her face, she had shooed him out the door, insisting that he would only be in the way and then set to work unpacking her trunks. Garrett chuckled, wondering what he would return to.
In that moment, Claudia’s face appeared at the window as though she had sensed his thoughts had strayed to her. A smile lit up her eyes, and she waved to him before disappearing from his view.
Sighing, Garrett set his feet toward the gate when he heard a familiar voice call his name. Surprised, he turned toward it and found Cormag MacDrummond, Laird of Clan MacDrummond and one of his oldest friends, striding toward him.
Dressed in plain, dark colours, Cormag stood taller than most men, his shoulders broad and his body honed by hours of training. Since their youth, Garrett and Cormag had crossed swords with each other as Cormag’s late father had insisted that it sharpened the mind and humbled the heart.
Still, despite his build, Cormag often seemed to blend into the background, unnoticed by others, but watchful. His dark grey eyes missed very little, and Garrett often wondered what he was thinking as his face rarely revealed anything. As much as Cormag observed others, little did he share of himself. He spoke few words, but when he did, they were worth listening to.
Garrett wondered why his friend would seek him out.
“Welcome back,” Cormag said, his voice even, and yet, it always had that authoritative tone in it that ensured his orders were obeyed without question.
Garrett nodded. “Thank ye.” He sighed, glancing at his surroundings. “’Tis good to be home.”
Coming to stand before him, Cormag shifted his dark eyes to Aiden, his face immobile. “Ye have a son,” he said then, and his gaze rose to meet Garrett’s.
“Aye,” was all Garrett said as he wondered how his friend felt about this sudden change in their circumstances. Since they had been young, they had walked side by side, but now their lives were leading them down different paths. Did Cormag long for a family of his own?
If he did so, the expression on his face did not betray any such thoughts. “Congratulations,” he said, his voice as unrevealing as before. Then he shifted from one foot onto the other. “I’d expected ye to come and see me after you’d returned.”
Some might have heard a hint of reproach in that statement. However, Garrett knew Cormag better than most and took note of the subtle signs of confusion that came to his friend’s face. It seemed he had been truly surprised by Garrett’s absence, and all he wanted was to understand.
“I meant to,” Garrett explained, rocking Aiden slightly in his arms when he started to squirm. “But when I approached yer door, I heard voices.” He paused, his gaze on Cormag. “I did not wish to intrude, so I decided to take my son for a walk first.”
Cormag nodded in acknowledgement, his face almost completely still. And yet, Garrett noted the gentle tension that had come to his friend’s posture.
After all, the one Garrett had heard Cormag speaking to had been Moira.
“Would ye mind if I accompanied ye?”
Surprised, Garrett agreed, wondering what Cormag had to say, considering that his friend generally had very little to say.
Together, they walked out the front gate in silence, the soft crunch under their boots, the only sound mixing with the gentle howling o
f the breeze and the bird calls nearby. The path led them away from the old tower, and before long, they found themselves on Garrett’s small hill.
None of them had spoken, and yet, it was a comfortable silence that lingered in the air. The kind of silence that only existed between people who did not need words in order to converse.
“I wanted to thank ye,” Garrett said after a while, his gaze drifting down to Aiden, who had succumbed to sleep, the little corners of his mouth occasionally curling upward into a smile. “Without Clan MacKinnear, I wouldna have been able to retrieve my wife and son.”
Cormag remained quiet, his gaze fixed on Seann Dachaigh Tower.
“Finn said ‘twas Moira who insisted ye send for them,” Garrett said, his gaze now on his friend, curious to see how he would react at the mention of her name.
Cormag’s gaze dropped to the ground before he turned to look at Garrett. “Her reasoning was sound,” was all he said.
Garrett chuckled, “Ian disagreed.”
“Ian always disagrees,” Cormag replied before his gaze returned to the old tower.
Garrett thought to detect a hint of anger or perhaps displeasure in Cormag’s tone but he could not be certain. Still, the way he inhaled a deep breath as though it was a strenuous activity made Garrett think that Ian had done more than simply disagree. In all likelihood, Ian had argued quite vehemently against Moira’s interference, stating that she had no business meddling in clan affairs, that her knowledge of the future was nothing but lies.
And still, Cormag had heeded her advice and gone against Ian’s counsel. Why?
“I keep thinking,” Garrett said, directing his gaze back to their home, “that if I had gone to Gretna Green a day early or a day late, I would never even have met Claudia.” Sighing, he shook his head, feeling his son’s soft weight in his arms. “The thought sends a chill down my spine.”
Cormag drew in another slow breath, his spine straightening a fraction more.
“She almost slipped through my fingers,” Garrett continued, “and I would never even have known what I would have lost. Sometimes there is only a small window of opportunity, and sometimes the one person who completes us has been right there by our side for a long time. Still, no opportunity lasts forever. Eventually, it is lost.”